Changes of Love
by Aoife-hime
Summary: [Sonomi x Fujitaka] Sometimes love hits you like a bolt of lightning, but sometimes it develops over the years, unfolding in the changes in your life. Written for stagesoflove challenge 5 Changes.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This entire fic is a series of flash fics written for the stagesoflove community on livejournal. The five changes love goes through just seemed to scream out "FUJITAKA/SONOMI!" to me. This is the result. I hope it pleases!**  
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**I. Beginning**

It was that time of year again. Spring. For the first time in decades, Sonomi's heart clenched at the thought. Spring meant school, and school meant she would see him again…

Sure enough, he was there, standing out of the crowd of mothers and children like an island mountain jutting out of the center of a lake. She could feel anger and resentment rising in her chest at the mere sight of him, and it took all her willpower not to clench her hands into tight fists, for if she did that she just might crush her daughter's small hand as well.

"Mama, are you alright?" her daughter asked, wide, innocent eyes gazing up at her with a depth she found startling.

"Fine, sweetie. Are you ready?" The little girl nodded emphatically, clutching her bag close to her chest. "Good. Now go show them what us Daidoujis are made of."

With that, she sent her daughter off into the crowd of other children all flowing in through the school gates for the first time. Sonomi was set to leave when out of the corner of her eye she saw him again. This time, his daughter was clinging to his neck. She had to stifle a laugh as she saw his glasses nearly fall off as his daughter refused to detach herself from him.

"But I wanna stay at home with you, daddy!" she wailed above the chatter of the crowd of mothers. Several threw him glances that clearly questioned his handling of the situation, but he was oblivious to them.

_Some things don't change... _Sonomi thought. She kept watching him, never moving to help him. She was the omnipresent judge and he was the unknowing petitioner, just as it had been all those years ago.

"Sakura, it's time for you to go to school. You'll be a big kid now, just like your brother."

"But I don't wanna be a big kid. I wanna be with you!" the girl cried into his shoulder.

"You still will be with me, Sakura. I'm not going anywhere just because you'll be in school. I'll be the same old dad you're used to."

"Promise?" she managed through tears and sniffles.

"I promise. Now go before you're late to your first day!" Fujitaka gently set his daughter down and gave her a nudge in the direction of the school doors. Only when the bell rang did the little girl take off running towards the doors, crying out a panicked "Hoe!" along the way.

It was only on her way to her meeting later that afternoon that Sonomi realized that, for the first time since her cousin's death, she no longer blamed him. For, in her mind, no one who could show as much love and tenderness to his child as Kinomoto Fujitaka had that morning could ever be held responsible for a death as senseless as Nadeshiko's.

She held in her revelation, though, not wanting anyone to get the idea that Daidouji Sonomi was suddenly going soft.


	2. Chapter 2

**II. Confusion/Shock**

"Did you have a good time, Tomoyo?"

"Yes, mama! Sakura-chan was wearing the dress I made for her… she looked so adorable," Sonomi's daughter sighed happily as she gathered her jacket and bag. "Kinomoto-sensei also made the most delicious cake. Do you think you could get Risa-san to make it at home for us?"

"I'll go look into it," Sonomi replied without thinking of the consequences of her actions. Tomoyo always had that effect on her; she would go to the ends of the earth to make her happy.

"Fujitaka-sensei, do you have… Fujitaka-sensei!" Sonomi had wandered into the kitchen of the Kinomoto household only to find the man of the house balancing an ungodly tall pile of very breakable dishes in his arms.

"Oh, umm, Sonomi-kun? Could you possibly help me with these?" Sonomi immediately moved to take some of the cumbersome dishes. As she moved them safely to the counter, she felt some warm water fall onto her foot. Sure enough, the dishes hadn't been dried particularly well.

"You know, someone could hurt themselves if you constantly spill water on your floors," she warned in the superior tone she saved for him and annoying business partners. He didn't rise to her bait, though, and began to wash out some of the larger bowls with a white dish towel. She waited a few moments before continuing, getting her irritation in check during that time. "You wouldn't happen to have the recipe for the cake you made today, would you?"

"Yes, actually it's just over… AH!" he cried as his leg slipped out from underneath him on a shiny patch of dishwater and he fell straight into the cabinets above the sink. He remained there, head against the cupboard door, groaning quietly until Sonomi finally snapped out of her shocked trance.

"Are you alright!" she asked, pulling him upright firmly and maneuvering him to the table. She sat him down in a chair and removed his glasses, which were bent up from the collision. It was only when her hands were running along his hairline checking for bumps or cuts that she realized just how close they were. She could feel his breath on her chin and she was so close she could see the few freckles that dotted his pale skin. Sonomi felt her face heat up and she knew that she currently was roughly the same shade as her favorite red power suit.

"I… uhhhh… I mean, I didn't…"

"That's… that's fine. I'm fine… I mean, uhhh…"

"I'll just…ahhh, where's that recipe?"

Even under pain of death, Sonomi vowed as she walked out the front door that she would never tell anyone just how pleasant it had felt being that close to him for those few moments.


	3. Chapter 3

**III. Transcendence**

She'd had just a little too much champagne, of that she was certain. It was always difficult for her _not_ to want to get tipsy (or sometimes something a little more than that) at the family New Year's party, though, what with virtually all of the Amamiya family packed into her mansion, gossiping and getting into spats with each other like particularly nasty teenagers.

Sonomi wandered in the general direction of the kitchen, not looking for anyone in particular when she heard the familiar laughs of her cousins, Nadeshiko's sisters, echoing through the hallways. The sound made her cringe visibly; she'd never held much love for the girls that would endlessly tease their sweet little sister while they were growing up.

"Did you see the tie he was wearing? Atrocious!" one commented snidely. More comments followed. Despite not catching every word, Sonomi knew the object of their ridicule.

"Would you harpies shut up?" Sonomi complained loudly, the alcohol greatly loosening her already powerful tongue. "Fujitaka-sensei is as much a part of this family as you are, and even if you feel like badmouthing the entirety of our family tree tonight, lay off him."

"Nadeshiko's been dead for over ten years, Sonomi-kun. Why do you keep inviting him? Don't you hate him more than anyone?"

"No," she replied, effectively shutting up her cousins. "He's a good man and has done much for his family. More than any of you have ever done for yours."

Her cousins looked at her strangely, as if seeing her for the first time in their lives. All were too afraid to contradict her, however, so in the end their group dispersed, making their excuses and grabbing their coats to go.

"I didn't do this for you, you know," she said to the man she could instinctively tell was standing behind her. "You were her husband; I couldn't let anyone dirty her memory, even if that meant defending you."

Fujitaka nodded, smiling slightly as Sonomi turned to face him, empty champagne flute hanging loosely from her fingers.

"Quite the party, Sonomi-kun. I think you've outdone yourself this year," he said after a while, breaking the silence that hung between them. She didn't reply, just walked towards him, grabbing his hand and leading him up the stairs and to a fairly unused room. "Where are we going?" He sounded worried, but that just made Sonomi grin.

"I thought we'd get away from the noise," she replied, opening the French windows and taking a seat in a chair on the balcony. Without a second thought, he joined her, relaxing for the first time since setting foot in her house that evening.

The stars shined brilliantly in the winter sky as the two sat in companionable silence well past the magical midnight hour.


	4. Chapter 4

**IV. Adaptation**

The house was quiet. Much too quiet. Sonomi still expected to hear Tomoyo humming along to some of her music while working endlessly on the piles of homework high school teachers seemed to insist on assigning each day. Those days were gone now, though. Tomoyo was off at college and suddenly her house seemed far too big for merely one person to live in.

Sonomi was jerked from her trip down memory lane by the sound of the phone ringing. She heard one of the maids answer it and a few seconds later the quick patter of footsteps down the hall told her the phone call was important enough to merit her immediate attention.

"Daidouji-san, there's a Kinomoto-sensei on the phone asking for you."

"Thank you," she said as she made her way to the kitchen. Picking up the phone with a curious expression on her face, she answered. "Fujitaka-sensei? Why are you calling?"

"You seemed lonely the last time we talked. I know adjusting to having Tomoyo away constantly must be difficult for you, and I thought maybe you'd like someone to talk to, say, over dinner?"

A small part of Sonomi's mind screamed at her that, if he were any other man, that line would make a great date invitation. He wasn't any other man, though; he was Kinomoto Fujitaka, the man who she had once considered her greatest enemy in the world. That man and 'date' didn't belong in the same sentence together.

"What did you have in mind?"

"There's this nice sushi place near the university, and I know how much you love sushi…"

"Sounds great. Give me fifteen minutes?"

Sonomi enjoyed dinner that night more than she'd enjoyed any meal since Tomoyo had left for school. The two adults chatted, joked, and laughed. As the night wore on, Sonomi was more and more surprised at just how easy it was to tell things to Fujitaka. He was possibly the best listener she'd come across in ages, and he never passed judgment on her for anything she said, unlike all the suits at work who wanted nothing more than to make her look bad to help their own positions.

When he took her hand to help her out of her chair, she felt a surprising tingle rush up her spine. For a moment, their eyes met and for once in her life Sonomi couldn't think of anything at all to say. Her mind had been wiped completely blank by the disarming smile and kind glint in his eyes.

"We should do this again," she finally managed. "Dinner… and such…"

"I agree."

They did, too. Nearly every night from that day forward, he would join her for dinner, sometimes at a restaurant, sometimes at his house, and sometimes at hers. Eventually Sonomi began to wonder what she'd ever done without him. She didn't know that all that time he was wondering the exact same thing.


	5. Chapter 5

**V. Acceptance**

The bouquet she laid on Nadeshiko's grave was made of peach and cherry blossoms. Part of her argued that she should have done something different that year, something a little less obvious, but her cousin had always loved those flowers so she stayed with her old standby.

"There are days when it seems like just yesterday she was laughing and smiling, playing with Touya and Sakura in the park," Sonomi said softly. Fujitaka didn't reply, but simply swallowed. She knew he was close to tears; he always was when he visited his late wife's grave. It was at those times that Sonomi could really tell just how much Nadeshiko had meant to him.

They left together, her smaller hand enveloped him his large one as they walked side by side back to his car. The drive back to her house was silent; the radio remained off allowing the Sonomi's mind to wander with the continuous slap of rubber on pavement. She only realized they had stopped when her door opened and Fujitaka extended his hand inside to help her out. Hastily, she undid her seatbelt and took the proffered hand.

She remained where she was standing for a few moments, enjoying the moment. Their hands remained clasped between them, sandwiched between their chests. Neither made a sound as their eyes remained locked on each other's. It was in that moment that Sonomi did the stupidest thing in her life.

"Thank you," she said quietly, and kissed him gently on the lips.

The kiss was brief but warm, sweet, and undemanding. When she broke away, she found herself staring into very wide, very surprised eyes made only that much bigger by the glasses perched on his nose.

"I-I-I'm sorry," she responded immediately, dropping his hand and taking a step back, looking at the suddenly fascinating pavement. She could feel her face heating up and she knew she was blushing. "I shouldn't have… I mean, I… I'll just go now." Sonomi turned to go inside when she was stopped by a hand on her arm.

"What do you have to be sorry for?" Fujitaka asked, recovering and smiling gently.

"For kissing you, for even considering that I should kiss you, for…" she paused, looking up at him for the first time since the kiss. "For ever daring to love the man I once hated, who still loves his wife as much as I always have."

"You know, I've heard you say many strange things over the years, some nice and some not quite so, but that, Daidouji Sonomi, has got to be the silliest thing I've ever heard come out of you mouth."

It took a moment for her to realize what he'd just said. When his acceptance finally clicked, Sonomi couldn't stop a smile from spreading across her face. It had taken her decades, but finally she had some idea what her cousin had seen in the man who was, at the moment, kissing her softly in the middle of her driveway.

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A/N: And so it ends. I still can't believe I actually wrote sappy fluff. Now if only I could write a strong action scene... but that's a problem for another fandom and another day. Hope you enjoyed it!  



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